Butler talks quite a bit about the homosexual being thought of as derivative of the heterosexual... when in actuality it is the categorization of homosexual that creates the norm of heterosexuality. It exposes the "fundamental dependency of 'origin' on that which it claims to produce as its secondary effect." (22) In this way, the homosexual precedes the heterosexual. This is much like Jean Paul Sartre's theorization of the anti-semite and the jew. In order for the subject 'anti-semite' to exist, there must be an object of hatred- the jew. Subject-hood is often thought to be created through such inversions.
Butler does, however, recognize the fault in such inversions, even when used productively.
As gender is a performance, this subversion and resistance takes place through the performance. Performance of gender- of drag- (they are basically the same in Butler's eyes) are flexible forms of resistance. They can parody. They can simply reveal.
Does this place too much responsibility on the homosexual to reveal? Does this power/responsibility emerge by default? How can this exposition be translated onto the heterosexual subject? Can we share such power/responsibility?
No comments:
Post a Comment